The Circus's Witch Doctor
by rainbodie
Summary: Letalas is the owner of a small circus, and he's come to settle his little cabaret, his little dark circus, in the woods by a nearby hut. Lee manages to make friends with the local witch doctor, Venenum. Like most stories, he falls in love, but is afraid of what the future holds.


Lee looked the mirror that was attached to his vanity; looking back at him was such a tired looking back at him. He ran his hand through his hair and placed his hat on the vanity.

He felt so... empty. He hadn't felt empty in a long time. Since, well, he couldn't exactly remember. He walked out his tent into the woods where he had settled the circus.

He decided that maybe a walk in the woods would get this feeling out of his head. He walked past the little hut his friend, Venenum, resided in, and deeper into the woods. He swore he heard something slithering behind. Probably Delilah. Whether she was following him or not, he didn't care. The empty feeling was still there, and it was growing.

Letalas seemed to get lost deep into the woods. He still heard rustling and turned around to see what was making it.

As he had guessed, it was Delilah. He smiled sadly and leaned down.  
"What you following me for, girl? Ven might be worried, and looking for you."  
The snake looked at Lee before slithering closer.

Letalas sat down and Delilah slithered up onto his lap, looking up at him.  
"Did you follow me to make sure I was okay? Sure sweet of you to do that." he said with a soft smile.  
Delilah continued to look up at him. She nudged his hand, like she wanted to be pet.  
Lee smiled, and 'obeyed' the snakes wishes.

'I just... have this empty feeling. Like nothing is right, everything seems so...bland to me." he sighed and looked down at the snake. "I feel like I'm in a rut, and I wish there was some way to get out of this."  
Delilah slithered away and then looked back at Ring.  
"Hey..." he said softly.

She continued to look at him, not moving an inch.

"Do you want me to follow you."  
The snake nodded.

Letalas stood up, and Delilah began to move again.

He followed Delilah, unsure of where she was taking him. When she stopped, he realized he was in front of the little hut that Venenum lived in.  
"Why did you bring me here?"

Delilah just looked at Lee, and then the door opened. It was Venenum.  
"So that's where you ran off too. Did you miss Lee?" The taller male said, laughing.  
Letalas smiled softly. "I think she followed me into the woods to make sure I was okay." he replied.  
Ven looked at the other male. "You okay?" he asked, motioning for Lee to enter.  
Lee looked at the witch doctor before shaking his head.

"No." he said in a sad tone. He walked in and just kind of stood there, looking defeated.  
"What's wrong?" Venenum asked, pulling up a seat for his friend.  
The other male sat down.  
"I just have this empty feeling. Like I'm in a rut. I've felt this way even before I settled down the cirus here." he looked at Ven, and he felt like he was going to cry. And he was unsure as to why he wanted to cry, he just felt like he was going to.

"Oh." Venenum replied. He sat down across from Lee and sighed.  
"I wish there was someway for me to help you, Lee."  
He smiled softly, and got up to leave. "It's okay. I'll...get over this soon."  
He made his way to the door when Venenum got up to stop him, grabbing the ringmaster's arm.  
"Lee, wait. I don't like seeing you so down. When I met you, you were this happy-go-lucky Ringmaster, so passionate about his job. I want to see that Letalas again."  
Lee looked at Ven, tears now slowly escaping and rolling down his cheeks.

"I don't know what to do, Ven. I can't escape this rut, no matter how hard I try. And sometimes, I don't think I'm fit to be the ringmaster at all. Ashana does it better than me. They look up to her. I've hear rumors that I've just dissapeared, as of late. But what am I to do when I'm getting no one to see the circus? They all know we've settled down to stay. So I've just been staying in my tent. No one ever comes by to see me anymore."

The tears just kept cascading down the ringmaster's face.  
"And what's worse is that I have a growing crush on someone and I really don't know if they like me back or not."  
Venenum smiled. "I'm sure they like you. You're too lovable not to like." he said, looking at Lee. "What's their name, anyway."  
Lee looked up at the witch doctor, silent for a moment before speaking softly.

"Venenum."


End file.
